§The ninth
edition of this series was released on 7th June, 2016, incorporating
all FDI policy amendments carried out since the release of last FDI Circular
i.e. since May 12, 2015.

§It has been made
simpler and investor friendly; and will serve as a ready reference for foreign
investors on various provisions of the FDI policy.

·Policy
Reforms :

§ To further
supplement domestic capital, technology and skills, for accelerated economic
growth, DIPP announced FDI policy reforms on 20th June, 2016. The
policy amendments became effective from the date of release of the press note
i.e. 24th June, 2016.

§The reforms
inter-alia include FDI beyond 49% in Defence under approval route and 100% FDI
for e-commerce in Food Products manufactured/ produced in India under approval
route.

§Foreign
Investment in financial services activities regulated by financial sector
regulators will be 100% under the automatic route.

§In financial
services, which are not regulated by any financial sector regulator or where
only part of the financial service activity is regulated or where there is
doubt regarding regulatory oversight, foreign investment upto 100% will be
allowed under the government approval route

·Inflows
:

§The total FDI
inflows received during the last financial year (2015-16) at US$ 55.6 billion,
an increase of 23% compared to the previous financial year (US$ 45.1 for
2014-15), has been the highest ever for any financial year till date.

§During the
current financial year, The FDI inflows during April-October,
2016-2017 stood at US$ 27.82 billion as compared to US$ 21.87 billion in
April-October 2015-2016.

§Manufacturing
constitute around 41.5% of the equity inflows while non-manufacturing around
58.5% (during April 2014 to Sept 2016)

·Intellectual
Property

·Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) Policy:

§In May, 2016,
Government for the first time adopted a comprehensive National Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR) policy to lay future roadmap for intellectual
property.

§This aims to improve Indian intellectual property ecosystem,
hopes to create an innovation movement in the country and aspires towards
“Creative India; Innovative India” “रचनात्मकभारत; अभिनवभारत”.

§ Objective of
this policy is to increase IPR awareness; stimulate
generation of IPRs; have strong and effective IPR laws; modernize and
strengthen service-oriented IPR administration; get value for IPRs through commercialization;
strengthen enforcement and adjudicatory mechanisms for combating IPR
infringements; and to strengthen and expand human resources, institutions and
capacities for teaching, training, research and skill building in IPRs.

§Subsequent to
the approval of this policy, a Cell for Intellectual Property Rights Promotion
and Management (CIPAM) has been created as a professional body which
will be working under the aegis of DIPP for addressing the 7 identified
objectives of the Policy.

§MOU in the field
of Intellectual Property signed with U.K, Singapore and E.U

§Delhi
Mumbai Industrial Corridor Project Implementation Trust Fund (DMIC-PITF Trust)
is now re-designated with an expanded mandate of integrated
development of Industrial Corridors.

§ This
would be an Apex body under administrative control of DIPP for coordinated and
unified development ofall industrial corridors in the country.

§It will
channelize Govt. of India (GoI) funds as well as institutional funds for
development of corridors. It will coordinate all central efforts for the
development of Industrial Corridor projects and will also monitor their
implementation.

§Total
outlay has been increased to Rs. 17,550/- for the period now extended up to 31SI
March, 2022.

·Delhi
Mumbai Industrial Corridor:

§Approval
of Construction of trunk infrastructure for Phase II of Part I of Shendra
Bidkin Industrial Area (SBIA) namely the Bidkin region spread across 31.79 sq
km (3,179.20 ha) at an estimated project cost of Rs. 6,414.21 crore.

§Investment
of Rs. 2,397.20 crore as 49% equity of DMIC Trust in the City/ Node SPV in a
phased manner; and issuance of EPC tenders for selection of contractors for
various packages of trunk infrastructure in a phased manner.

§Development
of the SBIA as a manufacturing hub will generate a series of direct and
indirect benefits through employment, development of ancillary units and
spin-off of socio-economic benefits.

·Modified
Industrial Infrastructure Upgradation Scheme (MIIUS) :

§ Under
this Scheme, projects have been undertaken to upgrade infrastructure in
existing Industrial Parks/ Estates/ Areas. Greenfield Projects can also be
undertaken in backward areas and North Eastern Region (NER) with a Central
Grant upto 50% of the project cost with a ceiling of ₹
50.00 crore.

§ Final
approval has been accorded to 24 projects with central grant amounting to ₹ 604.71 crore and 6 projects with central grant of ₹ 129.91 crore are at ‘in-principle’ approval stage.
Central assistance of ₹ 181.92 crore has been
released to 22 projects as on 31.10.2016.

·Support to Industry

·Indian
Leather Development Programme:

§One of the major
activities under Indian Leather Development Programme is to provide placement linked
skill development training to unemployed youth.

§As against the
target of providing training to 1.44 Lakh persons during 2016-17, 60,705
unemployed persons have been trained out of which 48,752 trainees have been
employed in leather and footwear industry.

§For augmentation
of institutional infrastructure, assistance has been provided for establishment
of two new branches of Footwear design and development Institute (FDDI) at
Banur (Punjab) and Ankleshwar ( Gujarat).

§ Approval has
been given for setting-up Mega leather Cluster (MLC) at Nellore, Andhra Pradesh
with GOI assistance of Rs 125 crore.

·Investment Promotion

·Make
In India:

§On completion of two years of ‘Make In
India’ initiative, sector achievement reports in respect of eleven sectors viz.
Power, Mining, Automotive, Telecommunication, Textile & Apparel,
Electronics & IT, Skill Development, Leather and Port & Shipping
Tourism and Food Processing have been released during the year.

·Ease
of Doing Business:

§The
World Banks’ Doing Business 2017 report shows that for the first time the
absolute score of ‘Distance to Frontier’ that measures the gap between India
and the global best practice has increased for two consecutive years. It has
improved by 2.5% from 55.27 to 53.93 over a period of last one year.

§A
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between India and UK to support
Ease of Doing Business in India. Anational conference on Ease of Doing
Business was organized with support from Government of UK to disseminate the
best practices.

§Through
constant efforts, States too have been brought on board in the process to
expand the coverage of these efforts. The rankings of the States/UTs based on
340-Point Business Reform Action Plan released on 31st October 2016,
show that national implementation average of reforms undertaken by States/UTs
stands at 48.93%, significantly higher than last year’s national average of
32%.

§It
also shows that 12 States scored more than 90 % as against none last year.

§Notification
issued by RBI allowing Foreign VCs to invest in equity or equity linked or debt
instrument issued by an Indian startup without RBI approval.

§Notification
issued for Relaxed Norms of Procurement in Government
Departments and CPSUs.

§Funds
for 10 Startup Centers released and 9 Technology Business
Incubators approved.

§Establishment
of Atal Tinkering Labs: NITI Aayog has
announced a list of 257 schools.

·Incentives for Industries of North East and
Himalayan States –

§North East Industrial and Investment Promotion Policy, 2007 revised
with notification on 22nd Nov, 2016 for resumption of registration
process for new industrial units that had commenced production on or after
01.12.2014.

§Committee headed by CEO,
NITI Aayog to suggest a roadmap for a new industrial policy for the region.

·International Cooperation-

§Korea Plus- It is a
special initiative to promote and facilitate Korean Investments in India. It
was operationalized on June 18, 2016 comprises of a representative from the
Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy, Government of the Republic of Korea and
representative from Korea Trade Investment and Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and
three representatives from Invest India.